the san francisco county transportation authority. my name is david campos and i am the chair of the authority. the clerk is cheng and we want to thank the following members of sfgtv staff for covering the meeting. madam clerk, could call roll call? >> camposes? >> present. >> chiu. >> present. >> chu. >> present. >> cohen? >> fer ill absent. >> mar? >> mar, present. >> kim, absent. >> olague. >> we are absolutely a quorum. >> and i did hear that commissioner cohen and commissioner weiner as well. if you could call item two. >> approval of minutes of the november 20, 2012 this is an action item. >> colleagues this is an action item, before we take action, i want to open it up to public

comment, any people of the public who would like to speak on the minutes? seeing none, public comment is closed. if we could have the roll call. >> avos. >> aye. >> chiu >> aye. >> chu. >> aye. >> cohen. >> elsbernd? >> fer ill? >> aye. >> kim, absent. >> mar, olague? >> aye. weiner? >> aye. and item passes. >> thank you very much. item passes if you could call item number three. three, chair's report, information item. >> thank you very much. first of all i want to wish every one a happy holiday season. and i also want to acknowledge that today is a very significant day for many of us here at the county transportation authority for a

couple of our commissioners it will be the last county transportation authority meeting, commissioners elsbernd and commissioner olague. and as chair of the authority i want to take this opportunity to thank them for their service. for their contributions, their many, many ways in which each one of them has contributed in terms of not only the individual projects that have taken place in their district, but city-wide, and i know that we will miss them and the authority will not be the same without their presence. so i just want to take the opportunity to thank them for their service. and we hope that they continued to be involved. i also note that as many of you have heard, or read in the press, we have been informed by current executive director that

he will be retiring, effective at the end of this year. and one of the items that we have on the agenda today is a discussion about the transition in light of that retirement. and we look forward to hearing from members of this commission as to their thoughts in terms of what process the authority should follow. but i do want to take this opportunity as chair of the authority to thank him for his service for his many years of service. to the county, transportation authority, it is really hard to imagine, the ta without him but i also have been guaranteed that is still available as issues come up. and the one thing that i want to say, as chair of the authority is that one of the most important attributes that this agency has, is that the

caliber of the people that are there. and couple with its independence and i think that those two things are in any way a reflection of moskovich and the authority of this agency are committed to committed to insurancing that independence and the caliber of the people who are there is protected and so we look forward to a very smooth transition. so, with that, i simply wanted to thank everyone for the work that has been done this past year and many accomplishments that we have had. and so, with that, i will open it to public comment. >> seeing, no public comment, matter of public comment is closed. unless you have any comments or questions, item three, we will move on to number four. >> number four, executive director's report this is an information item.

>> the floor is yours. >> thank you, mr. chairman. commissioners, moscovich the executive director, this is my last report as executive director after almost 12 years with you. the reports is on your desks. i want to take a moment to just remind you that the purpose of these reports is to keep you, the board informed about the things that are not on the agenda, the things that the many, many things that staff are working on day in and day out. of which the items are on the agenda and the packet. and they are just the tip of the iceberg. there is a lot of activity, all of which is contemplated in the work program which you approve every year through the budget process. but a lot of it does not see the light of day because of the business of planning and

building transportation infrastructure is long term and it moves sometimes of what appears to be the age, and speed. but it is all the more reason to give you informed about it and the public of course about the things that are happening. so, i think that it would be fitting in keeping or recognizing the fact that there is a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes and by people who rarely get a chance to present before the board to take a moment to first thank you, the board, for the attention to these reports and was contained in them over the years and the guidance that you provided me and the staff to make sure that we stay on track with the work program. and also, to thank the staff, the people who don't appear before you very often for doing the work over the years that has made the authority the

effective and nationally recognized organization that it is today, professional organization that the church has referred to. and i would like to dedicate this last report to them. and i would like to wish the board good luck and god speed in fearing the san francisco transportation authority into many successful years and cutting edge work in the future, so thank you all. and now, for the actual substance of the report, a few things that i would like to announce, the first one is that the american road and transportation builders association and its 24th meeting in washington, d.c. gave the city and parkway the project of the year award as or because of the outstanding contributions to the advancement of public, private partnerships. and we all need to be aware of

and proud of. the project was the first public partnership in the state of california, based on availability payments. in a way it was a leap of faith for the folks approving the project and in many ways it was not. because we did a tremendous amount of work to assure everyone, starting with this board that this was a, it was a great thing put passed and braise the trails of the future that will give us cost certainty and schedule certainty and we looking forward to that. i am looking to 2013 which i promise that i will attend and i am looking forward to the budget report at that point which i think will show that we are right that this is a good way to deliver complex projects and assure the public that the money will be spent according

to the budget without over runs. the other big piece of news i think in the last couple of weeks is that the transportation agency has authorized staff to move forward with the feesbility analysis of the possible relocation of it to be able to extract the tunnel bearing machine at a site of the old pegola theatre on the edge of china town. i think that this is a very, very interesting prospect for the benefit that it would have to lower the level of community disruption and also because it marks the path of where that line might be extended into the north beach. i will share this with you.

the multimillion-dollar projects are tricky. and the timing of those is even trickier because, it depends on the agreements that are reached at the regional level about the priority of projects especially for federal funds. but, the utility of projects really transcends those arguments and commitments and it is in the future. the authority several years ago did an analysis of the connectivity that would be provided by an extension of the central subway into north beach and the beneficial effects on the bus network and all-the

transsiltko come mend the entire team and the feedbacks are available in the next couple of months as we finish

talleying it. but it really bodes well for the level of participation for the san francisco plan which is a 30-year plan, we are also continuing to make progress on the 19th avenue study, design concepts for the relocation of the street caroline ... car, line to the west avenue and we will undertake an comprehensive analysis. there will be a community workshop to unavailable the discussion in february. and the ballpark station circulation is also making a significant amount of progress there. the focus is the reconfigure of the freeway ramps so that we have a more sane handling of pedestrians in the area which are very significant, so

station access concepts are paramount there and the concepts will be shared with the community at multiple out reach venues, linked with this. and in the meantime there is a meeting of the balboa park committee schedule for january ninth, at our offices and the people that are interested in the topic can find more information on the website. www.sfta.org. >> the corridor is also making progress and the supervisor committee meeting now and schedule for this thursday, december 13th at 6:00 p.m. and are located at 1455 on market street on the 22nd floor and more information on the website and we will be releasing the call for projects to the transportation for clean

air late in january or early in february those applications are due in april and we expect that they will be about 700,000 worth of funds to distribute to projects, that a reminder that the sorts of projects that are eligible for pfca, the products that reduce motor vehicle emissions the examples would be clean fuel vehicles and management projects, bicycle projects and the board can expect to have the program available in the spring. a couple of more things, to wrap up. the third piece, dynamic traffic assignment model has been completed and now in use. i know that this is... stuff, this is the first model of its kind in use by a public agency in the nation right now and it

is extraordinary in a number of ways and particularly because it allows at the same time in the same tool the treatment of very, very small designed features, such as build out on the sidewalks and how it effects the vehicles on the streets and the over all movements of traffic transit pedestrians and so on in the large network like san francisco. and i would like to take a moment to congratulations elizabeth sol,, the deputy for technology service and staff for the major accomplishment which is possible through a grant from the federal, from the federal administration and also, would like to point out that the model is already getting a lot of interest nationally because of its application in an over run area. and some of that will be on

display in mid january when some of our staff participate in the national transportation research board meeting in washington, d.c. to share the tools and information that they have developed with the rest of our colleagues around the nation and the world and that includes the model and it includes the progress on the brt and conclusions from the pricing study and we have had an extraordinary number of papers accepted for trb this year and that is just a reflection of the quality staff work. and the last item on my report, is just a quick review of an effort that we did to reach local small and disadvantaged businesses who gathered yesterday over 70 firms and 93 people at our offices to look at opportunities for those

businesses to be involved in the business of the authority in the coming year. it was really a capacity crowd and i was just thrilled to see all of those people. they represent really the best of san francisco and every affirmation of this board's commitment to employing local talent and providing opportunity for all, and i think that we will have a very productive year, with the help of firms like those. and with that, and so that you don't have to hear from me again this meeting, let me just take a second to thank the chairs of our committees commissioner weiner for finance, commissioner avalos and all of you as well as the mayor and staff for your guidance and collaborativive work over the last few years, i would like to also thank the colleagues in the city family for the tremendous amount of work that we have been able to

do together. and last but not least, after, of course, thanking my staff which i have done several times now, let me take a second to recognize my own family in particular, my partner of 22 years, robert swarts who is in the audience today. for putting up with me as i dealt with the riggers of this job. he has definitely heard too much. if we were in the era of affairs he would have to have the fate of the pyramid builders but thankfully we are not and he promised not to say anything. last but not least thank my parents who are not here today but i am not sure that watching on tv as they have for many years. i have neglected them too long and i am looking forward to spending more time with them. that said, i reiterate what i said in my farewell letter is that i am a san francisco

citizen, there are few places in the world where i would consider living and maybe only two in the u.s. and i am just staying here and i intend to spend some time working park time as a consultant and i intend to remain committed to the ideas of a great city, the city of san francisco. and i intend to remain available to all of you for whatever might be of use in terms of moving the agenda of the transportation authority for the future. >> so thank you very much. and that concludes my report. >> thank you, i was wondering if you your partner did not mind just waving and acknowledging? >> i know that a number of my colleagues want to add to their comments you but to reiterate i don't know that we have the

words to fully express how grateful we are for the amazing work that you have done and we are certainly very grateful to your family for i guess putting up with the many challenges that come with this job. so thank you very much. and so with that commissioner david chiu. >> i want to echo for your years in the agency and for putting up with us and all of the challenges that you face and i wish you all of the best in your coming years, i suspect in the short term, your life will be easier. but i wish you all of the best as you proceed. and i also wanted to take a moment and thank you and your staff for looking up the central subway north beach issue as you know, this involves revisiting at least an initial but not a particularly thorough decision that was made four-plus years ago before many of us were on the board of

supervisors. i asked to look at the theatre option related to north beach, i appreciate the fact that your staff is looking into this. given how quickly we need to make a decision and the transitional period with our new board, one quick request to ask of you is if your staff is able to complete your analysis as quickly as you can if you could brief my staff and i so that we know in the next couple of weeks exactly what we need to think about when we decide. >> i want to note in thinking about this staff, we have asked him to come back to the authority next month when we have a presentation of the annual report and at that point there will be an official presentation on behalf of the authority for his service. so we will be doing that. commissioner vice chair weiner.

>> thank you, mr. chairman. >> i just want to reiterate how grateful all of us are for your service and i think that i am probably speaking for chair campos as well that two of us, not just in this capacity, but at the mtc, i think that did not get to really see the broad, regional work that happens around so many different transits, and transportation projects and disagreement and agreements and it is really a... it is a critical and very tough arena in many ways. and one thing that i and i said this when chair campos and i went to speak to the ta staff when you announced your retirement. that even though, we all of course, have agreements and disagreements and sometimes, sometimes even intense disagreements that i think that it is universally people,

universally acknowledge your incredible depths of knowledge and creative thinking around so many transit issues. >> i know that a number of months ago when it looked like there was a potential hitch in terms of the design of the project and you were able to come up with a very elegant and creative solution that we were all able to get behind. i just want to wish you all the best and i know that we are going to be in touch and i am sure that i will be calling you with questions and i appreciate your continued advice, and friendship, thank you. thank you, mr. vice chair, commissioner avalos? >> i would like to thank the director for your service. i had the opportunity to meet your parents and was able to meet him while doing the remocking in the district and giving you a great perspective on how much your family means to you and it is great to hear that you have some time to

spend with them. i want to thank you for your great service here to the city we have the challenges around the transit and it is important that we have the transportation authority and that is really brings the independent thinking to how we make decisions around the transit that can actually hold the city to the higher level in terms of how we plan and how we direct our resources. and i think that you have to provide that and you have been able to assemble a staff around you that bring excellence as well to that vision that you bring. and we are going to miss your work. we have to figure out how to move on and how to do so. i think that your contributions are going to be missed and i am glad that you are still around to provide some input and you will be consulting as well. but the city has gained a lot from your perspective and your creativity and drive and so i wish you all of the best and i hope to be seeing you soon and

in the coming year as well. thank you. >> thank you, i wanted to thank the maestro for everything that he has done for the transportation and for teaching me and my staff so much and the leading great quote on orchestras you created a great staff that really worked well together. it is a pleasure to work with the staff that you have helped to nurture and support. and i know that we will work together but i look forward to watching some of your performances that you are going to hopefully be doing and hopefully you can enjoy, the other parts of your life like your love of music as well. thanks for your service for san francisco. >> thank you, commissioner. commissioner olague? >> i wanted to thank you for everything, it has been a real pleasure working with your

department over the past few years. on issues like level of service, with racial and i know that she has done a lot of amazing work and tilly, whether it is congestion pricing or any of the other questions that i have had have you been helpful, i have enjoyed this committee and one of my favorite committees that i serve on. and i have enjoyed the subject matter and that is the implications around transportation and planning are great for a lot of diverse populations in the city and the implications are greater than they were even like sometimes acknowledging us. so thank you for your work and i hope that you enjoy your retirement and as, superviser, mar mentioned that you have time to spend with music and other things that you love. so thank you. >> like i said, we will have an

opportunity to make a formal presentation and recognition, but, i have to say that not only as an mtc commissioner and as a chair, i appreciate working with you and you can say, you know, there is a saying in spanish... you know, tell me, who you are with and i will tell you who you are and i think that by that measure and by the people that he has surrounded himself with, his staff, i think, that he is a great man. so i think that it is something to be very proud of. and on a more personal note for me, there are not that many gay latinos in these positions so it is good to see that out once in a while. so why don't we open it up to public comment and any member of the public that would like to speak on the executive report, please come forward. >> good morning, thank you for the opportunity, my name is ro

land, and first of all, i want to say a great thank you. we are going to miss you. the thing that wanted to touch on is the central subway, you have an opportunity opportunity here, not just to expand it not just to north beach, but all the way to the bay. and i will share with you with what we did with the channel ton el. they are 200 feet below the sea bed and provide a grounding, and so i strongly urge you to look at the possibility of going all the way to the bay, burying them, assure you that there are a lot of people down there that will back you up when you go after the funding, thank you and happy holidays. >> thank you very much i know that we have a number of speaker cards for items but if you would like to come up and say anything on this item.

come forward. seeing none, public comment is closed. and i also wanted to before we move forward to the next item. i wanted to give an opportunity to the chief deputy. and to make remarks about him and we will have more of an indepth discussion about the transition, but wait that it works under the administrative code of the authority is that the chief deputy automatically steps into the shoes of the executive director when there is a vacantcy and until there is a new executive director and so with that to our chief deputy we also want to thank her for stepping into this role as well. >> thank you, my pleasure. >> i am so nervous talking to someone who gets grammy nominations and i am speaking on behalf of the staff it is close to 20 years of service at